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"love" in seven languages

Meaninglove

Spanish

amor

/aˈmoɾ/

masc.inherited

French

amour

/amuʁ/

masc.inherited

Regular Old French would give ameur; the ou is often credited to troubadour Occitan amor (debated). Literary plural: de belles amours (fem.).

Italian

amore

/aˈmore/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

amor

/aˈmoh/

masc.inherited

Romanian

dragoste

/ˈdraɡoste/

fem.other source · Slavic dragostĭ 'dearness'

Iubire, from the Slavic verb iubi 'to love', is the other everyday word; amor is literary.

Catalan

amor

/əˈmoɾ/

masc.inherited

English

love

/lʌv/

native English · Old English lufu

English → ItalianloveamoreNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: amorous, enamoured, paramour.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

AMŌREM‘love’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

The same word in all three — but French amour may have come home through the love songs of the troubadours, which is why it does not look like heure or fleur.

English relatives: amorous, enamoured, paramour

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In a sentence

  • esEl amor es ciego.
  • frL'amour est aveugle.
  • itL'amore è cieco.
  • ptO amor é cego.
  • roDragostea e oarbă.
  • caL'amor és cec.
  • enLove is blind.

More in Feelings

All Feelings words